Talk about WIFI and Bluetooth speakers

                      Talk about WIFI speakers and Bluetooth speakers 

Technology comparison

Compared with Bluetooth technology, the data transmission rate of WiFi is higher, and the 150M transmission bandwidth can fully meet the needs of lossless music and high-definition video transmission. Higher audio CODEC, better audio indicators, and can pass through walls, so it is regarded as an ideal technology for high-quality wireless music playback.

Of course, WiFi is not perfect. From a security point of view, Bluetooth one-to-one transmission privacy is better. WiFi is also easily interfered when there are many users, music synchronization is unstable, and packets are easily lost. If the technical advantages of the two are combined, it will solve the problems of wireless audio in terms of bandwidth, energy consumption, and connection methods.

At the same time, Bluetooth also shows a trend to move closer to WiFi. Bluetooth technology has been involved in IEEE 802.11 since Bluetooth 3.0, expecting high-speed data to follow the 802.11 specification and low-speed data to follow the Bluetooth channel. The latest generation of Bluetooth 4.0 technology has increased the data transmission rate to 24Mbps, and the transmission distance has also expanded to 60 meters, which is enough to meet the needs of lossless transmission. The Bluetooth 4.0 low-power version reduces power consumption by 90%.

Overall, Bluetooth 4.0 audio devices have lower power consumption, and their advantages are in the portable audio and video market, and will become the standard peripherals for smart terminals; while the advantages of WiFi are in networking solutions, home entertainment, engineering audio systems, and high-quality cloud music are its power point.

cost comparison

Compared with technology, cost is the biggest obstacle for WiFi to replace Bluetooth in speaker applications at this stage. The WiFi speaker solution requires an external CPU (the cost is 12~14 US dollars, used to check the IP password address) or at least an MCU; while the Bluetooth speaker does not need any external plug-in, the overall cost is only 20 yuan. At present, Bluetooth speakers on the market can be sold for 50 yuan per unit, while the price of WiFi speakers is still as high as 1,000 yuan.

Comparison of push methods

Bluetooth speakers and WiFi speakers have very different ways of pushing music. For example, if you use a bluetooth speaker to play the music content of QQ Music, the first step is to download the data to the mobile client, the second step is to decode the mobile phone audio, and the third step is to transfer the decoded sound file to the bluetooth speaker. The player is a passive player. If it is played through a WiFi speaker, through the WiFi transmission protocol, only the link of the sound file needs to be transmitted, and the WiFi speaker will actively download the music file, decode and play the music directly on the speaker side. This difference makes WiFi speakers more responsive when playing high-quality files that take up more bandwidth. And the current mainstream online cloud music services all support the WiFi transmission protocol.

In addition, WiFi speakers can be interconnected with other electronic devices that support WiFi in the home, one-to-many connection of several devices at the same time, and switching between devices is also very simple, unlike Bluetooth speakers that have tedious pairing steps. If an operating system is added, the WiFi speaker can also independently select and play songs without relying on the mobile phone.

Written by : Davecl Audio

The Audio Equipments Manufacturer

www.davecl.com